Inside the Braves with MLB.com's Mark Bowman

Braves make Sherrill signing official

The Braves were able to announce Friday morning that George Sherrill is indeed the newest member of their bullpen.

Sherrill and the Braves agreed to terms of a one-year, $1.2 million contract Wednesday. The club couldn’t officially announce the deal until the 33-year-old left-handed reliever completed his physical.

After enjoying the two finest seasons of his career in 2008 and ’09, Sherrill struggled this past summer — posting a 6.69 ERA in 65 appearances with the Dodgers. Most of his struggles came courtesy of right-handed hitters, who compiled a .427 batting average and .516 on-base percentage against him.

Sherrill limited left-handed hitters to a .192 batting average (14-for-73) and .286 on-base percentage. He will likely team with Eric O’Flaherty to serve as Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez’s primary left-handed specialists.

“He’s a very effective guy against lefties,” Wren said. “We also felt like he made great strides in the second half of (the 2010 season).”

I am in agreeance with u speedy, this aint good for the Braves or anyone in the NL East. My question is now are they Braves gonna do something to combat this by either trading for a pitcher or maybe finally getting that needed Cf instead of relying on Mclouth. I mean Matt Garza out there and avaliable along with Grenke. I am telling FW this use one of those young arms in a deal or maybe do what Seatlle did and bring one of those young arms up like Deldago or Tehran and place one of them in the starting Rotation.

I am in agreeance with u speedy, this aint good for the Braves or anyone in the NL East. My question is now are they Braves gonna do something to combat this by either trading for a pitcher or maybe finally getting that needed Cf instead of relying on Mclouth. I mean Matt Garza out there and avaliable along with Grenke. I am telling FW this use one of those young arms in a deal or maybe do what Seatlle did and bring one of those young arms up like Deldago or Tehran and place one of them in the starting Rotation.

The Philly rotation certainly scares me, but I’m not ready to make any Maddux/ Glavine/ Smoltz comparisons.

First year together (1993)

Maddux – 20-10, 2.36
Glavine – 22-6, 3.20
Smoltz – 15-11, 3.62

And based on the ages, these Philly guys will be about 6/7 years older than the Braves big three were when they got together. We’d really be looking at their 2000 season to compare to what we can expect this coming year.

Maddux – 19-9, 3.00
Glavine – 21-9, 3.40
Smoltz – Tommy John…

The Philly trio will be fantastic. But let’s wait for them to pitch together for a decade (I know, Smoltz wasn’t in the rotation for the whole ten years they were together) before declaring these new guys anything close to the Braves trio of the 90s.

We all know the Phils have deep pockets Phan. They’re trying to be the Yankee’s and buy their championship. It’s a shame that the 2 League champions last year both beat teams with the payroll north of $100m when they both had payrolls of less than $100m. The Yankee’s rotation last year didn’t get them a championship, or hell, even the division.

North of $100 Million? Try north of $200 million this season. The Phillies’ lefties may have great stuff, but Lee and Hamels have been barely over .500 pitchers for playoff teams lately. We also know that both of them go deep into games, so it isn’t on the relievers this time. To have a lower winning percentage than the team does is not a resounding endorsement of a positive impact on the team. We’ll just have to see how it plays out in the summer. Wins in December do not count.

With just reading that Greinke being traded to The Brewers and Cain being in that deal to KC, think the Braves will make a go at him again ofr maybe bring back someone like Blanco or signing someone like Bloomquist to be a back up utlilty guy.?

I was just reading the “glowing” review of Jake Peavy’s progress this off season, and it got me thinking.

Imagine the last 2 years with Peavy and/or A.J. Burnett, and no Hanson or Lowe. You think there has been crying on the blogs the last 2 years, imagine all the Mike Hampton remarks and the wasted money blah, blah, blah we would have had to endure here if Frank hadn’t had to go with Plan C at the time.

The Braves dodged the bullet that neither of these guys has been able to throw in the last 2 seasons.

And we wouldn’t even have had Yunel’s 2009 year or even Alex Gonzalez?who in my opinion gets a lot of unnecessary flack from the reactionary fan base. Funny to think that in that offseason Wren got so much berating by the fans because he couldn’t sign AJ Burnett, Furcal, Griffey, and couldn’t seal the deal for Peavy. Look up their numbers in the past 2 years and Lowe’s contract looks pretty good. McLouth was a desperation move, KK was a gamble, Garrett Anderson seemed like Bobby’s call, and Glaus seemed like a brilliant gamble at least for a couple months. Also no one seems to remember that when we got Lowe the only starter we had from the prior year (before trading for Vazquez) was Jurjjens. Who was the #2 at time? Buddy Carlyle?? He might be making a mistake by giving Uggla a 5 year contract, but what we he will take from us will probably be a lot less than what he would get on the FA market if he has a good ’11 campaign. Again, sometimes you have to take chances. We are going into ’11 with potentially one of the most potent offenses and one of the best pitching staffs in the NL and how many top flight prospects did we give up in the offseason? ZERO. We still have the best prospect arms in baseball and are trying to restock in position players. They will provide the duct tape if any of our parts come undone during the season. Last year was one of the best I have seen the Braves play but I think I’m more excited about next year. I like the uncertainty and being the underdog, as opposed to being a Yankees or Phrillies fan who are expected to win with all their big money players. Hudson, Hanson, Lowe, and JJ can hold their own against Philly’s staff. They may not, but all of those guys have pitched like aces at some point in the past 2 seasons. It’s gonna be fun.

Viva – The important ones are still here! You, me, Rother, Brandon, even Bill. etc…
Hey remember PWJort? He’s got this blog (Capital Avenue Club) now that has a pretty legit following. It even gets mentioned on espn.com from time to time. Anyways, if you want to read something funny – go to his blog and read what he wrote the day before the Braves signed Uggla. I think the title was something along the lines of “Why signing Dan Uggla would be a terrible mistake”. Then, read what he wrote the day of the Uggla signing. How he thought it was a great sign. HILARIOUS! What a piece of work.
Anyways – for Braves fans looking for some entertainment while Mark takes a little break, I’ve been enjoying reading Peter Moylan’s blog at petermoylan.com . Also you can follow him, Jason Heyward, and Freddie Freeman on Twitter.
DOB just posted a nice little teaser article on a pretty candid interview he had with Frank Wren while vacationing in Mexico. He talked about Liberty Media, Zach Greinke, and some other interesting stuff. (Sorry, Mark! Come back soon!)

viva,
You still have NC but you know it is a ghost town when Bill’s Fillie friend comes over without being invited. At least everyone’s blood pressure is down. But in about 7 weeks it will quickly change. The fillie’s pitching looks good on paper but I thought we hit Lee well. Then again our staff looked good a number of times in the past on paper then the injuries happened (Smoltz, Hampton, Hudson, Medlin). Also while the Braves everyday player are moving to younger players the fillies are stating to see problems with Rollins and company.
Merry Christmas from SC!

Yeah, bravo, the good ones are still here lol. I’m just wondering what we’re gonna do about our 4th OF. Need someone who can play center, and we were dumb enough to let an elite defender and good baserunner like Gwynn Jr. get away. Reed Johnson, maybe? He went down with an injury last year, but he’s a RH hitter who can play all 3 OF spots. haven’t heard anything about him this offseason, so he’d likely jump at the league minimum.

“Mania,
I was also reading that DOB talked about Chipper’s rehab and stopped on his neighbor’s lawn with the dry heaves. Then quickly glad the neighbors cell phone so he could not take any photo’s.”–winboj

Uh, what? Was I the only one would got lost about halfway thru that? Or is that the new english grammer than the 10 year old NO is trying to teach?

And Yes, I’m still here as well. I had kinda wondered what had happened to the stat man PWHjort, or however he spelled his name. Really? He has a legit following? What, all 30 people? But seriously, the guy knows how to argue, he just can’t decide what side of the fence needs painting even when its chipping off both sides. Anywho, since both of our number 1 and 2 prospects are going to be on the team this year, I keep hearin Matt Young as the new AAAA starter for our outfield if McLouth (see folks? there is a capital L, not McCLOUTH!) can’t produce. Who exactly is our new number one prospect? Position player that is? I already know who our top pitching prospects are.

Jim I think the Braves best minor league position players have not gotten to AAA yet.

Canizares is a DH, and he’d be a good one, but he could be replaced defensively with a cardboard cutout.

Matt Young is a spunky little (5’6″ – 5’8″) overachiever that Braves fans would fall in love with, but he isn’t really a top of the line prospect.

Tyler Pastornicky seems to be the guy, but I have not personally seen him play regularly like the others in Gwinnett. He will hit Gwinnett this season for the first time so we’ll know more when the weather gets warm.

Constanza is like Blanco from all I have heard, only he is more aggressive on the basepaths. He also hits closer to .300 and doesn’t strike out near as much as my buddy Greg White.

The rest are going to start at or below AA this season. That would be Salcedo, Harrilchak, Linares, and the first rounder from last year’s draft Matt Lipka looked good in the Gulf Coast.

They added some pop to the system last year via free agents like Mauro Gomez, but he is 26 and a AA first baseman.

The wild card is Jordan Schafer. If he has his head and his hands back, he is going to be a factor because the skills were there. The fact that Frank Wren hasn’t picked up a Tony Gwinn, Jr. type gives me the hint that Schafer may be looking like the stud he was again. If McLouth all of a sudden becomes the 4th outfielder, this team is starting to look pretty good.

Jim, You are 100% correct it was bad. But I got in a hurry when my client dropped off a check for $1.2 mill at add to his account which I can assure you was done correct and timely. I asked if he could lend it to the Braves for an outfielder however he did not think he would get a good return.

To whoever that argued with me that Chipper was out hunting to get in shape, you might want to read this accurate recitation of His Highnesses quote
Chipper Jones explained to ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick that his pre-season workouts have been coming along slowly, but steadily. “I’m so out of shape, one of my neighbors caught me dry-heaving on his lawn,” Jones said. “We had a nice little chuckle out of it. I grabbed his phone to make sure he didn’t take any video and people would see it on YouTube.”
Apparently Chipper thinks it funny that he is so out of shape.

To whoever that argued with me that Chipper was out hunting to get in shape, you might want to read this accurate recitation of His Highnesses quote
Chipper Jones explained to ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick that his pre-season workouts have been coming along slowly, but steadily. “I’m so out of shape, one of my neighbors caught me dry-heaving on his lawn,” Jones said. “We had a nice little chuckle out of it. I grabbed his phone to make sure he didn’t take any video and people would see it on YouTube.”
Apparently Chipper thinks it funny that he is so out of shape.

Well… Chipper might be a little out of shape since he had serious knee surgery a few months ago and has either been sitting or hobbling… He is candid and playful with the media and certain curmudgeon-y fans read way too much into his statements. They also seem to think that whoever is rehabbing should have no time for recreational activities and should be working as if they were in a Siberian death camp.

Bravo.. yeah I actually read PWHort’s blog and it’s pretty good. Sometimes I contribute. It’s actually much better than Bowman’s at this point, since Mark never contributes to the “discussion” and the entries aren’t much better than slightly opinionated versions of the news feeds that he writes for the official Braves page.. Also, the commenters here with the exception of a select few are moronic goons who never delve into any information about the game below the surface level, and have the reading comprehension skills of a blind 3rd grader. There’s no real discourse unless it’s berating NC for his sub-human drivel or Bill is getting angry and handing out insults.

Also, I defend PWHort’s post about not signing Uggla. I also thought that it was potentially a bad idea, considering what I had thought we would give up, and the fact that we needed a LF not a 2B.\. I will also defend his post about how it was a good deal, since we gave up the last year of Infante’s contract and a setup guy at best in Mike Dunn. I’m sure Peter doesn’t think much of me because of how we used to argue, but his blog is ruled by reason, research, and intelligence whereas this place is more like a petting zoo with a few hands running the show. Sad but true.

Viva, was that a thinly veiled shot at me? Is it for the 30 followers line about PWH? Come on. I remember when he posted frequently here and a lot of his posts were ads for his blog. That and his frequent arguements with Bill about the validity of UZR numbers and other sabremetrics. Personally, I feel sabremetrics are an overrated measuring system, but some feel they are the bible on how to run a team. I like baseball enough without it looking like a math equation which is usually what I remember PWH’s posts looking like with all of his UZR and other stat numbers. I like comparing stats as much as the next guy but I can’t do the WAR and UZR stuff. I got nothing against the guy, and he’s passionate about the Braves and that makes him ok in my book. Ok, I also admit I thought at first the trade for Uggla was a bad idea, but that was because in most of the games that I remember watching him play, he looked like he had a brick in his glove with the amount of balls he dropped or juked right to catch instead of left or vice versa. Defense, defense defense is defintely one of our shortcomings along with a lack of speed. Signing Uggla doesn’t help that but it does help supply the lack of power we haven’t had since Texieria was in a Braves uniform. Of course, we are banking on the trio of Heyward, Freeman and Uggla to hit most of our homeruns next season. Anyone expecting Chipper to hit more than 15 homeruns next season has had one too many to drink. Don’t get wrong, I hope hits more than that, but I don’t realistically expect that.

Ya know, not every post can be deep beneath the layer of the game. Ok, the flack for giving noogies to NO, guilty as charged. I like to read y’alls arguements since 90% of the time, one of you usually present an angle I hadn’t considered before. But when NO posts….I think he fits your description of the general commenters much better than I do. Do I have to post 3 or 4 different posts in each blog with a different trade idea to be elevated up out of the moronic goon category? And come on, you had to agree with SOME of the stuff I write on here. It may not always be deep beneath the surface of the game stuff, but I think its usually well thought out (unlike a certain commen-….nope, not even gonna finish that thought.)

Rother, do you hold out more hope for Tyler Pastornicky or Constanza being the higher rated player? I know we haven’t seen anything yet of what they can really do, but which one do you think holds better promise? And Winboj, you need to contact the Braves FO. If your handling checks for that much money on a regular basis, maybe we can get some flyers into your office and get some discreet donations to the team and buy that extra player we need. Pretty much everyone has said that Wren is done making moves for players, but I feel like we just need one more. But I’m not sure for where. A true backup outfielder rather than using our less experienced homegrown players, or another utility player for the infield. I don’t have much confidence in our bench at the moment since we are basically waiting on the one big question mark thats holding us up. Chipper’s health. If he can play, get that infielder. If not, we get the outfielder. I can understand where Bill is coming from on Chipper not really seeming to care if he’s ready for next season or not. Who do we have on our bench? Hinske–fine with that. Conrad–pretty much Uggla-lite with some power and about the same on defense as Uggla as we saw throughout last season. Still like him though. But signing Uggla just made me more worried about errors that might eat us alive next season. Mathers? I haven’t seen him play before to gauge his effectivenes yet. Im assuming that Canizares and diory hernandez are pretty much a toss up for that last spot. It doesn’t feel as solid as last years bench felt to me. I know both of those last two guys have improved since I watched them in 09, but I haven’t seen as much improvement as I would like. Picky of me, isn’t it?

Peter does a good job with his blog. For anyone wondering, it’s capitolavenue.com.
I don’t agree with him on a lot of things, like when he said that hiring Freddie was a mistake – http://capitolavenueclub.com/?p=3142 and when he said bringing on Uggla would be a mistake. He later changed his tune based on all the Braves ended up giving up for Uggla. But he puts a lot of work into it and he’s a yellow jacket fan… which pretty much makes you ok in my book. I think it’s funny that he was on here so much in the beginning, rightfully nailing Frenchy to the cross when we were all believing he would eventually get better, and so on. Now – his blog is ESPN affiliated… which is pretty cool. Kudos to him.
As for me – I’m pretty loyal to Mark. I enjoy this blog. I don’t really enjoy the conversations and clientel from time to time… but I’ll take it.

From what I’ve seen, ESPN seems to hate any GA team, be it football, baseball, basketball etc. Being affliated with them would be a curse in my book. Oh I know, hundreds of teams, 50 states worth of them, plus international sports, racing, boxing, etc. And they’ll spend 15 min talking about a Philly victory during the season that doesn’t mean much, a Braves victory in similiar circumstances gets a headline and a one line description before they move to the next team.

I hate ESPN. Sorry, just wanted to shout that from the mountain for a moment. And Merry Christmas to you too Bravo.

Boy, It’s kinda funny. More people talk about me here when I’m not posting than when I am. I think you guys miss me when I’m gone. Oh BTW, it is 41 days to NSD and I have another blog passion which consumes me this time of year. But in the words of the of the immortal Ahnold, “I’ll be back…..”
As to Peter and his CAC blog, it continues to be the endless recitation of which new stat defines a better baseball player. I guess when they figure that out we can fire all the scouts, huh? Oh and Bravo, it would only figure that you are a “Ramblin Wreck”. It seems such an appropriate metaphor for your postings.

jimphelps,
I have seen neither Pastornicky nor Constanza play. Based on the current log jam of luke warm outfield prospects coming to Disney in a few weeks, I’d give the edge to Pastornicky for being an infielder and SS in particular. He has room to move in the organization and will get much more visibility on a daily basis. It is very hard for a light hitting CF to make any real waves beyond the 4th or 5th OF job. Everyone wants the mythical “5 tool guy”, but mostly, the tool they don’t want to be absent is the “hitting for power” tool. Even if he makes the Braves, he will spend every off season looking over his shoulder for the next up and coming guy. He would have to pass a large pack of “nice” outfielders. Also, the “Schafer” thing is going to make it very hard for any other OF in the organization to get much traction without being truly dominant.

Here’s a couple thoughts….
Has anyone heard anything in regards to the KK situation? I’d love to be able to see some of his salary gone. It’s ridiculous to pay $7 mil for a AA pitcher.
Pastornicky, from what I remember, didn’t exactly tear it up in the minors. From memory, I think he hovered around .250 for the season. I don’t want to annoit the kid a big prospect until he proves himself a little more.
Jordan Schafer has to be the 4th OF option right now for the Braves. He will either make the team to start the season or find himself in KC for the Braves AAAA club. The Braves can’t let him remain stagnant in the minors anymore. It’s all or nothing at this point, IMO.
I seriously doubt that Canizares will find a spot on the opening day club, just because of his limited defensive capabilities. The fact that we have Eric Hinske and Mather deems Canizares obsolete. I was in favor of bringing up Barbaro last season, but I do not see a place for him on the team. He will probably be the guy called up when someone hits the DL. My best guess is Diory will get the last slot.
Of course, this will all change if a move is made.

I am 1000% sure Wren is talking to everyone and trying to dump KK. They obviously don’t want a $7 mil pitcher in AA.

You’re right about Pastornicky. He doesn’t have great numbers but his speed is something that doesn’t exist hardly anywhere else in the Braves farm system.

Schafer… why would you want your best Plan B-in case McLouth falls off the planet again-miring away on the bench in Atlanta as a late inning defensive sub?? You want him getting regular reps to maybe return to form. And obviously you can’t do a CF platoon since they are both lefties. I really think that Matt Young will be the 4th outfielder and Jordan will be starting in CF for Gwinnett.

While on the topic.. Rother, what is the “Schafer thing”? The other outfielders in the Braves organization won’t get much traction because they aren’t any good. Schafer has the potential at least, and he is the only one who even has that.

Canizares won’t make the team and probably never will again unless FF gets injured or is hitting below the McLouth line. 1. He can’t play defense and 2. he can’t play defense. Diory and Young get the last two bench spots.

Viva,
The reason I list Schafer as opening day team is because he is not going to sit on the bench. Let’s all be honest. Chipper is a HUGE wildcard here. If he comes back at all, we have to assume he is going to miss a lot of time. As of right now, I’m assuming Hinske would play LF whenever Prado comes in to play third. Wouldn’t you rather have Schafer’s defense in CF or LF?

Viva, you said it yourself, it’s the “P” word. Potential like Schafer possesses has an affect on more than one player. We talk about his “potential”, and that he is the “only guy” that is capable to be “the guy”, which may end up being true. However, if you followed him and saw Jordan Schafer play on a daily basis you would have noticed that the 2010 version of Jordan Schafer wasn’t even good enough to start in Gwinnett. His hands were so slow that he was just another guy that could play a nice CF. He didn’t drive a fastball at any point in the season that I can remember, for any of the teams he played for. Guys like Matt Young who put up good numbers all the time (.300 and led the International League in steals) wonder what it is they have to do to pass guys who they obviously outplay on a night in and night out basis. If Schafer went .300 with 20 steals in AAA, he’d be starting in Atlanta almost immediately.

That said, we agree that Young is a much better choice for a backup position, and that Schafer needs the every day work that AAA will give him. When he comes to Atlanta it will be to start in CF, not to play twice a week. If McLouth is again a solid Major League CF, and Schafer returns to the form we saw in 2009 ST, then the Braves are in good shape. That will provide the best time table for everyone involved.

Brent Clevlen has a big arm but a questionable bat, and he is no longer on the 40 man roster. Wilken Ramirez has power, but strikes out all the time. 166 times in 2010. I haven’t seen his defense at all so I can’t comment on that, and he isn’t on the 40 man either. Constanza did his work for another organization in 2010, so he is only a stat line at this point. Right now, it looks like Matt Young in April, and maybe Jordan Schafer mid summer if he is back. Anything else will probably come from somebody who is not in the organization today. If Chipper goes down early, or doesn’t make it back, there will be an all out scramble unless Mather is ready to step it up. He might end up being a huge surprise for the Braves. Nobody in St. Louis would be shocked if he had a breakout season.

The Braves will have a good team, but they will have to stay healthy to compete. There is currently very little support if injuries start showing up early. They need to grab up some Hank Blalock, Brad Haupe type guys for insurance at the end of ST if they are still available.

If Pete Rose was coming up through the minors today, would he even get a look? No speed, no real position for defense, no real power. If he did get a look, would it be as a 28 year old AAA lifer? It is an interesting argument I’ve heard. Have we gotten to the point where the term “He’s just a baseball player” has become derogatory? Just like being an “athletic quarterback” has become code speak in the NFL for cerebral deficiencies. As with “she has a great personality” in blind dating, being a “baseball player” leaves room for the inevitable “But” to follow. How many potentially great “Baseball players” have been lost in the minors, tagged as “not athletic enough”? How many “great athletes” are still up in the Majors not reaching their “potential”, which may or may not actually exist in a true baseball sense. I guess my take is baseball involves a set of skills, especially hitting, that are not necessarily dependent on great athleticism. I agree that it is a beautiful thing when great baseball players are also great athletes, but I have seen winning baseball played consistently by guys labeled “just a baseball player”. If Eric Davis had Paul Molitor’s swing, how ridiculously good would he have been? Food for thought….

Rother, I think we are making the same point. I still think Schafers woes at the plate were still due to his injured wrist which I’ve heard many times takes 2 years sometimes to recover from. Everything is hypothetical at this point but I don’t think constructing your roster based on the assumption that chipper will still be injured is very constructive. If there’s something seriously wrong w Jim during ST then we will probably see the team go after another option. Schafer is Plan B for McLouth not for Chipper. In that case, Prado will obv move to 3B and there’s an opening in LF which I assume would be filled externally. That is unless Schafer is absolutely tearing the cover off the ball in ST.

Yep, I think the Braves want Schafer to face some live bullets on a daily basis before they just hand him CF. IF he finally proves himself at AAA, which he hasn’t to this point, then CF in Atlanta is the next stop.

Anybody got any curiosity about Rocco Baldelli? He is very talented offensively and can play CF. His health is a factor, but he could be a right handed platoon guy because of the limited ABs that come against lefty pitching. if the price is right, he could be some insurance as we wait to see what happens with Schafer and McLouth.

Well I never said they were just going to hand CF over to Schafer. Quite the contrary. It’s still McLouth’s job to lose and unless Schafer is destroying AAA pitching, if Nate is putting up something close to .260/.350/.400 (we could all hope) I don’t see a switch happening. Of course, this is not factoring in ol’ Chipper. Schafer’s potential rebound is of course very questionable, but I still think he would do better than Young or Constanza, assuming that everyone DOB quoted in that story weren’t just blowing smoke up his *ss.

There is no way it takes 2 years to rehab from a wrist injury, unless you have a strength deficit from lack of work ethic or lack of HGH. The kid took a shortcut already in his career, and doesn’t seem like the type of kid who will diligently rehabilitate to get himself into peak physical condition. I’m all for shipping his butt to KC. He seems like a smug little brat and I wouldn’t be hurt at all if he falls flat on his face again.

Two years to recover from a wrist injury… Uh, I’m getting it from multiple quotes over the past year courtesy of Dave O’Brien, Mark Bowman, and in several other unrelated cases. Oh and I had a wrist injury from boxing that I had to get fixed and it took a hell of a long time. And yeah my doctor told me the same thing. Try having your wrist get tore up and then try to go after a 95 mph fastball.. or you can just sit at home and rag on players on the same team that you’re supposed to be rooting for.

Also, HGH doesn’t make you a good baseball player. You couldn’t give Bill a ton of it and have him turn into Manny Ramirez (though his hat size might increase more than Bonds’ did). Personally, I think that the potential storyline of the bratty Schafer’s rise, dramatic fall, and then eventual return to the bigs as a matured player is just as compelling as any other we have going on.

Viva, do this for me since you are such a Schafer fan….tell me one thing Schafer has done since coming off HGH? Yeah, he ran into a low 90’s fastball in his first major league at bat. So, you are saying that he hurt his wrist with that swing? What is to account for all of the the horrible at bats that he had to start his rookie season? The last thing this kid needs is people like you to always say “he has potential”. The kid has never turned on a major league fastball post HGH with maybe the exception of his first at bat. And yes, I will sit at home and root against a smug jerk. Just because he plays for the Braves, doesn’t make him immune from ridicule. In that case, maybe you can root for Raul Mondesi, Ken Caminiti, and John Rocker. If you want to sit around and wait for a feel good story then you need to look farther than Jordan Schafer. To be honest, he isn’t worth all of your concern.
Also, I think it’s interesting that you are trying to call me out for criticizing a player, and you find the time to criticize someone else who posts on here.

Speedy has a point in that Jordan Schafer has done nothing to this point to prove he can handle himself in an adult manner in a baseball environment. DOB’s report that he is rehabbing in a maniacal way only shows that he and his father are capable of focusing on a goal to return physically. It does not show that he will magically begin making good decisions and become an asset to the Braves once he is back to where he wants to be, It doesn’t say he won’t either.

Physically, wrists are a nasty business as Viva has said. That is a very difficult rehab from all accounts. I also agree with Viva in that it is always sad when a person does not utilize their talents to full potential. I thought Doc Gooden was the best pitcher I had ever seen at that point in my life, and it was very sad that his career went in the direction it did. I do admit because Gooden’s wounds were self inflicted, that I felt far worse about the way Mark Fidrych’s career ended than Gooden’s.

So, it would be a real shame for the wrist injury to be what kept Schafer from ever making it big. If his maturity or lack there of ultimately gets in the way of his potential, he will just join a very long list of sad stories. There have been far more Steve Howes and Roy Tarpleys than there have been Josh Hamiltons.

Schafer’s situation has not risen to this level by any accounts, but he has taken a pretty huge step backwards from the can’t miss kid of ST 2009. His time in Gwinnett did not go well, and the impression he left on the organization will have to be overcome as well as the wrist injury. If Schafer makes it back physically, I’ll be on his side until there is a legit reason not to be. He is still a young man and there is certainly a lot that can be learned from the last two years. Martin Prado was the perfect workout partner for Jordan Schafer this winter. I, like Viva, prefer the rare feel good story to the next could have been statistic. The Braves history in this area is well documented. They will do what is right for the team. There is a long list of physically gifted ex-Braves. I like where this story is going so far this off season.

From the comments of FW it appears the team is willing to give Schafer that second chance in spite of the past. Also Fredi was not around so he may not be against Schafer. If at the end of ST he and Nate are about the same then I hope Schafer gets the nod as he will throw the ball to the infield. Schafer and Heyward had the same problem of not telling the team about the injury while it cost the team production when they played hurt and lost time getting well.

Rother, your point is taken. I have let my disdain for this kid cloud my judgement a bit (along with posting while drinking seasonal brew). I’m not necessarily going to be living on the hope of the kid turning around, but it would be nice to see a talented kid break through. I just won’t hold my breath on this one. The only problem i see is the over abundance of left handed bats in our OF. I hope we don’t have the same woes vs LHP as last year, we dont have Matty Diaz to contribute this year.

Rother, your point is taken. I have let my disdain for this kid cloud my judgement a bit (along with posting while drinking seasonal brew). I’m not necessarily going to be living on the hope of the kid turning around, but it would be nice to see a talented kid break through. I just won’t hold my breath on this one. The only problem i see is the over abundance of left handed bats in our OF. I hope we don’t have the same woes vs LHP as last year, we dont have Matty Diaz to contribute this year.

Ok, So what’s the risk of giving Shafer a chance. Shafer struggled hurt for a half season in the majors making the min, playing stellar defense and it’s the end of the world? Heck we’ve been carrying McLousy for 1 1/2 years, playing mediocre D, making 6-7MM and batting sub Mendoza for most of the time. Is Shafer really a risk? If this kid had been playing to his potential nobody would be complaining about his attitude which all came to light after he kept trying to play hurt or get back to playing. I sure didn’t hear any of this crying when he was tearing up ST in 09. I hope McCantHit gets his avg up to .240 so we can unload him and only eat 4MM in salary then we can use the excess 3MM to sign a back up RH-CF and bring Shafer up. Problem solved.

A funny Lastings Milledge story. He was on the AAA team for Washington when they came in to face the G-Braves 2 years ago on a Tommy Hanson day. He was a scratch from the lineup, and one of the Braves interns that was on the field pregame called him out on it for ducking Hanson. He said that he was “trying to get back to the show, and not taking an 0-fer against that guy.”
He would not be a fit for the type of player the Braves usually get, but if he is a Minor League free agent he is possibly a good gamble. Milledge should be a bargain seeing as how he has washed out for three teams already. Brundy would have to earn his money in 2011 with Milledge and Schafer in the same OF. Heck, let’s go get Jose Guillen as well…and Milton Bradley…and Manny…and Nyjer Morgan. We could be so talented. That would be Suppperrrrr.

I was being a bit facetious, Rother. But you forgot to add Andruw to that list.

Mark, Mark, where did you go Joe Coffee?? I know that WVU game was depressing but you really do need to get a shower and put some clothes on and start writing again. I promise it will all be fine when you get to the green fields of FL in about 6 weeks.

I love that we got Dan Uggla so far, but I’m still a little worried about our ability to hit LHP. I think it was bill that kept expressing his displeasure for our hitting vs southpaws….and you can’t blame him, lefties owned us last year. I don’t really know much about the Mather kid, but I don’t think it would hurt to get another OF bat that can hit against lefties. We already have Heyward, McLouth, Hinske from the left side of the plate in the OF (not to mention Young and Schafer). Prado is our only RH hitter in the OF, and I have the feeling he will be playing more 3B than LF this year. Although I hope I’m wrong.

I know Billreef, you have never been one to advocate for a head case. Andruw would actually be way to good a teammate for that list I made. His attitude has not deteriorated to the likes of those other total flakes.

The last spot on the roster is going to get interesting again this spring. Conrad is very popular with the Braves players, but he will need to be a big Joe Mather fan if he wants a job in Atlanta. If Mather is what he always was supposed to be, he can allow the Braves the luxury of carrying Conrad as an additional infielder/pinch hitter. Mather has the potential to be to the Braves what Ben Zobrist is to the Rays.

It is possible for the Braves to give Heyward a look in CF as well. He certainly can cover the ground, and there are less things to crash into out there. He hasn’t been all that good going to the wall anyway. Just an observation, not meaning to go all NC with a player position move. There really aren’t any players in the current mix who would warrant such a move, but it might be beneficial to Jason’s long term health to open up the pastures a little.

I read about the MLBTV for the computer, what about TV?? no
schedule yet!! I don’t want to watch the braves on my computer,
I have two lovely big HD TV’S and I need to know the schedule!
Any one else having this problem?? Thank you! C Wallace

I read about the MLBTV for the computer, what about TV?? no
schedule yet!! I don’t want to watch the braves on my computer,
I have two lovely big HD TV’S and I need to know the schedule!
Any one else having this problem?? Thank you! C Wallace

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